With 5:40 left and the game tied, 56-56, St. Bernard’s senior guard Justin Valliere began a remarkable offensive display, sinking three straight 3-pointers in a 9-1 run that cranked up the volume from the fans in the Activity Center.

The Crusaders, who had stayed close in the third quarter, even leading at times, could not come back from Valliere’s fourth quarter volley — one trey from the right corner, and two from the wings.

“He’s our shooter. He gets in the gym early every day and practices a lot,” St. Bernard’s 6-foot-7 center Andy Baron said of Valliere, who finished with 12 points on four treys.

“This is a very big win for us against a very good team,” added Baron, who scored 10 points. “They just knocked off (No. 3) St. Peter-Marian by 15 points, a team we lost to by 10, so I think they came in thinking they were better than us. We had to show them on our home court that they were not going to push us around easily.”

Indeed, the Crusaders challenged the Bernardians, who had to battle back from early five and six point deficits to take a 35-34 lead at the half. Entering the fourth quarter St. B’s led, 53-49.

Senior guard John Crawley was the high-scorer for the 9-2 Bernardians with 22 points, including two 3-pointers. The Crusaders (7-2) were led by senior guard Jim Dufficy’s 24 points.

“That’s a very good basketball team, coming off a big win,” St. Bernard’s coach Mark Pierce said. “We knew we were going to have to work hard all night. It was close until Justin got hot, and when he gets hot, he doesn’t miss, and that gave us some breathing room.”